Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa kicked off the 25th anniversary of Ernst & Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year (EOY) award program yesterday at City Hall in Los Angeles. OWC staff helped plan the event and heard comments by the Mayor and First Deputy Mayor Austin Beutner on how the city’s entrepreneurs are helping revive our economy.

Mayor Villaraigosa lauded Ernst & Young for recognizing the contributions entrepreneurs make, particularly in Los Angeles. He noted that the city is the capital of innovation and creativity with about 80 percent of the economy built on small businesses – more entrepreneurial enterprises than any other city in the country. Mayor Villaraigosa predicted that 2011’s LA winners, who will be announced in June, will go on to (again) win the national competition.

Deputy Mayor Beutner noted that last year’s finalists were responsible for more than 1,200 jobs and $366 million in revenue for the city. He mentioned that every new job counts toward rebuilding our economy. OWC did its part by hiring a new managing associate earlier this year. Ernst & Young, in turn, was just named the #1 accounting firm in LA by the Los Angeles Business Journal for its growing practice that now employs more accounting professionals than any other firm in the city.

The LA program is one of 140 EOY programs worldwide that honors men and women who create the products, services and jobs that help our economy and communities grow. Attendees at the LA launch event included Bill Browning, Ernst & Young’s Los Angeles practice leader, Jane Pak of NAWBO, Kamran Pourzanjani of Bestcovery.com, Jeri Harman of Avante Mezzanine Partners and Christine Devine of Fox 11 News.